Oh, the Joys! Canoeing with Grandkids!

Oh, to share our love of canoeing with the grandkids.  To introduce them to canoeing, we canoed only about a mile on the Green River in Kentucky.  This was intended to give them a taste of being on a river, so that they would want to do more! The youngest had never been in a boat and was terrified that he would tip when we put him in the middle of the canoe. It took  five minutes of talking to him calmly, and then he was ready.  The oldest was also hesitant but didn't express it; we could just tell by the tenseness of his body and his reluctance to pick up the paddle.  But these photos show you the results.

Learning to Paddle!

Look at How I can Make the Canoe Move!

I can Paddle from the Middle of the Boat!

This is Fun!

Who Doesn't Love Gorp!

I'm Having a Great Day!

How Much Better Could it Get?

On the River, with my Grandkids!

 The Northern Woods on a National Scenic River

A Quiet Autumn on the Namekagon, Wisconsin

Oh, the northern woods! A lovely and quiet time in autumn, but quiet doesn't mean it is without it's own adventures!! We're talking about wildlife, hidden boulders, low bridges, colors and wind blowing upstream.

In planning the trip with our camping buddies we decided to take it easy and do 62 miles in 5 days, from the town of Hayward in Sawyer County (mile marker 66.1) to Namekagon Trail Landing (mile marker 4.8) in Burnett County. We shuttled our own cars because it was the end of the tourist season and most shuttling services had already closed. Shuttling took two hours. So we camped at the landing in Hayward before even hitting the water. If you want easy canoe camping, this is it!! Vaulted toilets, fire ring, picnic tables, benches and a dock. PLUS, within walking distance of two different restaurants to choose from:

Flat Creek Lodge https://flatcreekhotel.com/restuarant-bar

or Steak Lodge https://www.steakhouseandlodge.com/dining-menu .

Since, we were in the middle of the Covid crisis, we decided to carry out our order and dived into a meal of Walleye at our picnic table along the Namekagon River.

The Dock at Hayward Landing
Photo by Debbie Braaksma

                                                      

Getting an Early Start
Photo by Debbie Braaksma

Camping right at the landing allowed us to get an early start the next morning. The first mile of the trip was dotted with houses and seasonal cottages, but we soon left them behind. Is autumn always so amazing in the northern woods? The mixture of various conifers, quaking aspens, birch, and red maples seem to increase the beauty. We don't experience these same forest species in Kentucky. The colors became more vivid each day, with the sunny skies and the cool weather creating an uncommon tranquility. And to think that the main highway was just 100's of meters away.

The Beginning of Fall Colors

Every so often that tranquility was cracked due to trains, or loud engines, but it was just a reminder how you can be in such beauty while so close to society's busyness. The river was clean, clear with no trash. Even though we understand this a popular river with inner-tubers in the summer, you wouldn't know it in the fall. Our first day included playful rapids causing us to be alert as rocks were abundant and a chute (right after Stinnett Landing Mile marker 57.7) that was fun but not technical. The river was often too shallow for a loaded canoe causing us to scrape bottom many times and sometimes we needed to get out and pull the canoe.

Each day our lunch stop came with a surprise. During our first lunch our conversation stopped because we heard sounds like drums, but way out here? What was it? As we were asking each other “what could that be?” a pair of Trumpeter Swans swept into view, taking off from the water with raucous honks. Wow!

At the end of each day, we tallied our sightings including many Bald Eagles. The first day netted two bald eagles, 2 trumpeter swans, wood ducks, a few turtles, groups of common mergansers and beaver dams. We also tallied the number of people on the river. Zero! We camped at Mile Marker 52.1 after canoeing 14 miles. We preferred the group camp sites because they included a picnic table along with the “throne” and fire ring.

The Throne

Camp sites were pretty evenly spaced along the river – one at least every two to three miles. But contact the local National Park Service because the maps are not always up to date and several campsites listed on different maps have been removed. Camps at mile markers 25.3, 21.2, 9.3 were closed and perhaps others that we missed.

We relied heavily on the detailed maps of www.wisconsintrailguide.com which our camping buddy had laminated and put together on a ring (pretty cool idea)plus www.nps.gov/sacn/planyourvisit/maps.htm

Whoa! Our second day started with what we came to call “Hidden Boulder Rapids” just before Springbrook Landing. We hit a hidden boulder and stuck, swung sideways and hit a second rock, lodged onto two rocks! Not exactly a great angle for loaded canoes in rapids. When we extricated ourselves, we were going backwards! We always say, that we have never tipped, and we were working hard to make sure our actions in that moment still reflected our words. Somehow we made it through totally dry.

We stopped at mile marker 45.7 for lunch and our friend caught a Northern Pike. We were told that the fishing was good between Mile marker 46.3 to 41.8. While eating lunch, a little green bird made our acquaintance, but paid us no attention, hungrily snatching up caterpillars and insects within inches of us. We came to call it our weird little green bird.

OUR weird little green bird friend
Photo by Debbie Braaksma

Continuing our journey, intense warm southern winds caused large waves to move against the river current so that we couldn't ease up on our paddling the last three miles to Earl's Landing (mile marker 41.3). It was supposed to be our relaxing day of only 10 miles, but with the strong wind and hidden boulder rapids, it turned out to be an intense day and we were glad to rest at the landing. Earl's Landing has beautiful open campsites on green grass under large pines. It included vaulted toilets, picnic tables, a fire ring and drinking WATER!

As we talked to people who were starting off from Earl's Landing, they commented on how we had “braved” the boulders. Ha, Ha! We guess we did! New wildlife for our tally included some playful otters and an osprey. Bald eagle sightings continued daily. People: Zero, before Earl's Landing. Fresh Northern Pike for dinner was a real treat.

One of many Bald Eagles
Photo by Debbie Braaksma

As we started our third day, we were anxious about facing more wind while paddling on a large body of water, Lake Trego. We were imagining being blown across the large expansive lake and fighting the wind. We paddled through the town and many bridges, even under a bridge that was so low that we had to squat and duck down into our canoe to get under it. When we got to the lake, it turned out to be long and narrow (approximately 6 miles long) with beautiful lakeside homes. The first part of the lake is dotted with large islands of grass and the wind was wonderfully at our back, so our fears were for naught. There was one private camping and cabin place in Trego along the river before we got to the lake, called the Log Cabin. Https://logcabin-resort.com They have cabins and camping with showers, electricity, flush toilets if you are wanting several steps up from primitive camping.

Low bridge in Trego

We stopped at Trego Landing on the southern side of the lake off of County Road K to stretch our legs. It was not on our map. The lake is almost entirely private property, so there is very little opportunity to get out on land.

We finally saw the dam at the end of the lake. The short portage is on the right side of the dam. It is a very narrow path through the reeds. We really wish they had a picnic table for a lunch break. We ate lunch here anyway, sitting on the ground, near the port-a-johns – the only shade nearby 😏.

Trego Lake Dam

After the dam, the river is easier and we finally left the road noise and civilization behind. But other canoers seemed to appreciate the easiness as well so whereas we rarely saw other canoers the first two days, now they became more frequent, which also meant that more of the campsites would be occupied.

Each day the tree colors intensified. The autumn colors were vibrant with all the red hues imaginable, even florescent. Our responses were similar to watching fireworks, breath-taking, with ooh!, ahh!, at every turn.

Photo by Debbie Braaksma

We were headed to Marker 25.3 to camp when some canoeing angels let us know that it was closed. So we camped at 26.7. A wonderful item we brought on this trip was the solar shower. A black bag filled with water which sits on top of the load soaking in the sun so by day's end a luke-warm shower is possible. So refreshing even in September in the Northern Woods. Tally: Another bald eagle sighting and many small ducks that swim with their tail in the water and don't let us get close enough to identify them. People: We don't tally them after being spoiled with ZERO.

Campsite 26.7

Day Four:

We are completely away from any road noise. The river is becoming deeper and we don't scrape the bottom as often. The bottom alternates between gravel and pure deep sand. In the sandy bottoms, groups of River Redhorses are visible, a bottom feeding fish which can get up to 20 inches long. We glimpsed our first giant sturgeon in the sandy bottoms. The sturgeon seemed to be as long as our paddles.

Lunch was at Howell Landing (Mile Marker 16.9) along with a large group of Texans. We filled up with fresh water there.

We camped at 12.5, an overlook over a sharp turn in the river with grassy islands and beautiful evening views.

Camp 12.5 Photo by Debbie Braaksma

Tally: River redhorses, sturgeon, 3 bald eagles, a great blue heron and green heron, deer, and a young common water snake.

Day Five:

Knowing we just had a few miles left on the river, we rose early in the morning and were ready to go. The river is wider and deeper with large expanses of sandy bottoms and less obstacles to maneuver. Lots of curled silver maple leaves floated on the river, accompanying us, like little boats. We disembarked at Namekagon Trail Landing (Mile Marker 4.8). We originally had planned to canoe to Riverside Landing on the St. Croix, but the Park Service said that the St. Croix was too low for loaded canoes. It was so good to see our truck sitting there and we easily loaded it and drove back to Hayward to get the other car.

Tally: River Redhorses, three bald eagles including immatures, Canada Geese.

Heading off, we were all thirsty and seeing an A&W we stopped for a Root Beer Float treat! What a great way to end a quiet river adventure!

Autumn Water

surface of the river

reflecting the lime greens,

neon pinks and Ruby red

smeared together

an impressionistic painting

surface of the river

ripples, swirls and dips

translated by the sun

into black and white mosaic moving patterns

on the sandy bottom

surface of the river

sounds of inexplicable drumming

when two hidden swans gain flight

glimpsed for seconds

Oh, their webbed feet, the drums!

surface of the river

delicately curled

silver maple leaf boats

floating, accompanying us

gently down the river

We are never alone.

September 22, 2020

Namekagon River, WI

Hillsborough River, Tampa, Florida - From Days Gone By

The Hillsborough River, Tampa, Florida

From Days Gone By

We fell in love while canoeing the Hillsborough River over 40 years ago! So many years later we were in the area and decided to put in at the Wilderness Area at Morris Bridge Road. This was our usual put in spot those many years ago. Back then, it was just a place alongside the road, with ease of entry. The Hillsborough River Basin Board with the Southwest Florida Water Management District has bought up much of the property along the upper river. Several parks along the river have developed walking trails, loading ramps, and even docks which make the river easy to access. This makes it easy to canoe from one park to the next and get out and take a stretching or bathroom break. Maintaining it as a wilderness area has also helped to maintain the special qualities of the riverine/swamp ecosystem. We were excited to be back on the river.

Alert to the Wildlife

We had only one car, so instead of asking for a shuttle, we canoed 2 or 3 miles upstream and then turned around and canoed back. As we glided on the intimate river, we soon realized how easy it was to fall in love, not only with each other, but with the natural Florida environment. The Hillsborough River runs through an enormous cypress swamp with huge fluted cypress trunks and cypress knees everywhere.

Lilies were scattered on the moist banks. It remains a perfect haven for a wide variety of wildlife. If you are counting the various birds, turtles, or alligators, you quickly give up because there are so many it is impossible to keep your count accurate.

There wasn't a moment that we were not seeing some kind of wildlife and often there were three to five different species visible at the same. And if there was a moment with no wildlife visible, the whole environment is absolutely beautiful! Obviously the birds, turtles and gators are used to seeing people float by in their various sized canoes and kayaks as they casually watch you pass by. We were pleased to see that Roseate Spoonbills have found the river to be good place to live. 

The indigenous Limpkin were numerous and frequently seen. Hearing their raucous call was a wonderful reminder of our visits in the past.

Instead of creating a list of the wading birds we were seeing we started a list of those that we were NOT seeing. We didn't see any little Green Herons or any Black or Yellow-crowned Night Herons. Other birds? Yes! And lots of them – Kingfishers, Limpkins, Great Blue, White Ibis, Little Blue, White Egrets, Anhingas and Cormorants! Plus the call of a Barred Owl. Unexpectedly we also saw a Blue Macaw! Only this one came riding on someone's kayak as someone's pet.

    Canoeing the Hillsborough River not only is a great experience, but it is so easy and takes so little of your time.  We saw so much and our total time spent on the river was 3 hours.  People spend lots of money in the area for 3 hours of entertainment.  The Hillsborough River experience is free and you can do it over and over again at the same price!  Enjoy!!

Canoeing the Cool, Clear Current River

Canoeing the Cool, Clear Current River

We camped our first night just across the Current River from where six men, floating on this cool, clear river, built a log cabin (now called the Pultite Cabin) in 1911 as a retreat for fishing, floating, hunting and just relaxing in this beautiful land. Over one hundred years later, the Current River is still a retreat in this beautiful land. We are so thankful that it has been preserved.

The Current and Jack's Fork Rivers make up the first National Scenic Riverway, established in 1964 and called Ozark National Scenic Riverway. When you paddle (or float as Missourians say) on this clear river with its multitudes of springs it is easy to understand why it has been protected.

Life's situations these past two years, have prevented us from our “floating” together with our canoe-camping buddies, Debbie and Del. A celebration was in order! We had just returned from a trip to Italy where we canoed the Adige River and bought some good Prosecco. So, we popped the cork our first night out and raised our glasses in a toast to river camping. This first night camping was after a 6 hour drive to get to the camping site, Pultite, across from Pultite cabin and close to our intended shuttle service. Morning came and we loaded our canoes to carry them to our put-in spot at Akers. There are many canoe rentals and shuttle services along the river and we used Current River Canoe Rental. They have a store at the Pultite Camp Ground which is closed after Labor Day, but still offers ice and firewood which can be paid for at Running River Canoe Rental on Hwy 19 on the way to Akers. Akers has a store and an old ferry that has not been functioning in the past year. (Plants are growing out of it). We left our car at Akers for the shuttle company to pick up and drive to our ultimate take out point at Round Springs – 20 miles downstream. The weather was great! Cool and fresh air – a perfect October run. Finally back in our canoes, we pushed off – Azul, our dog, was excited to be back on the river too! 

Azul Back on the River

As we said, the river is from springs feeding the river its cool clear water. In this clear aqua colored water we could clearly see some good sized bass. The river flows a good 3 miles an hour making our paddling easy. At the same time, the fast little current liked to push us up against the outside banks on a curve, so we still had to pay attention so we wouldn't get caught off guard. The river was playful with fun ripples. As we enjoyed the river, we were also on the lookout for Cave Springs on the left side of the river.

The Entrance to Cave Spring

There it was six miles down the river, a little hidden making us turn our heads back a bit to see it. We ventured into the cave in our canoes and could go about 3 or 4 canoe lengths into the cave and it was wide enough to turn the canoe around. The cave seemed magical, to be able to canoe inside a cave! Cave Spring is connected to Devil's Well. They said that once people put a dye in the water at Devil's Well and found that in 5 days the dye arrived in Cave Springs. There is a 4 mile path to Devil's Well at Cave Spring, or you can get there by car (which was easier). 

We continued our float down the Current stopping for lunch on the bank of the river. While we enjoyed our stop a large Indigo snake passed by us not really paying us any attention. Back on the river we soon arrived back at Pultite (11 miles from Aker) where we left our tents set up from the night before. The Pultite campground is right on the river. Just paddle up and set up a tent nearby. Picnic tables, fire rings, restrooms and showers all available. It was really nice not having to unload and set up our tents for the night. We bought a deck of cards at the store so we could play cribbage after supper. We also collected enough wood to have a nice fire to sit by. Also, the main shelter has Wifi available.

Our second day on the river, we canoed less than ½ mile to the Pultite Spring and walked ¼ mile up a path to the source of the huge aqua colored spring. At the spring we found water cress floating and growing on the bottom of the stream and along the path to the large sturdy cabin we found and tasted ripe paw paws. That was the first time ever that we have found wild paw paws. The cabin is still standing but people are not allowed inside. The six men built the cabin in 1911 with the logs aligned vertically and it is still in good shape today. We headed back to the river. We love morning runs because of animal activity. Three otters were playing and fishing together in the water near the banks, while kingfishers kept swooping in front of us and a flock of unidentifiable ducks kept their distance. The turtles didn't come out until later in the afternoon, sunning themselves on logs.

We passed several different canoe groups in the morning. Many were still dismantling their camps on gravel or sand bars. There are so many good places to camp or picnic on the river. Take your pick!!

This part of the river includes Current State Park on the left with a beautiful retreat center. There is an opportunity to get off the river here, although we just kept going. Six miles down from Pultite campground is a cave on the right side of the river. We could hear the rush of a spring and enjoyed a short excursion to its opening. Thinking about all the springs,we found that the river had an abundance of liverworts in the shade of the rocks near springs. The vegetation on the river consists of a canopy of sycamores with the ancient horsetail growing in the moist soil. The banks were also abundant with river cane, dotted with red indian paintbrush flowers and maiden hair ferns tucked in for variety. Then around the eighth mile you pass Sinking Creek on the left. There is an access road there from state road 19. Near the river is a restroom and I am told there is a campground. This is associated with Echo Bluff State Park. After that it is a quick 2 miles to the take out at Round Springs. Round Springs has two accesses, a campground and picnic area. It is a short walk to the springs from the river. And a surprise are the wild horses gathered together in this area.

The Current River provides a great opportunity to be in God's creation, enjoying its beauty and the cool clear water flowing in it!

Floating through Italy on the Adige!

We were on the train almost to Verona when we crossed over the Adige river and wondered if there were any canoeing opportunities there. As canoeists we are always UP for spending some time on a river.  Upon arrival in Verona in the evening we emailed Adige Rafting and they were so quick with their response that we were ready to paddle in the morning. 


We had never heard of the Adige but we were ready to go.   We took a taxi to their offices, which was hard to find, but it was right on the river outside of town. Once we arrived at the canoe outfitters, we found that their "canoes" were actually canoe-shaped air-filled rafts!  We all pitched in to help get our canoes ready filling them up with air.


The Adige is a swift flowing river that was easy to paddle. It had recently rained so the water was murky from the runoff.  Usually, we were told, the river is quite clear.  The water was cool and refreshing.  We did get splashed a little once when we went through a short rapid.  We were impressed with the cleanliness of the river.  This river ran right through the populous city of Verona and yet there was no trash, not even washed up on the shore.

Wolfgang was our guide as we took the 2 hour run down the river.  Wolfgang, originally from Switzerland, was in a sleek kayak and paddled circles around us.  He was along to interpret some of the buildings and historical bridges we were seeing and setting them in to their historical context.  It was very interesting!


Canoeing under each bridge the guide instructed us to paddle across the eddy created by the bridge column so we could stop in the calm water and talk about the history of the particular bridge.


This is the Ponte (bridge) Scaligero which we stopped to examine.  Notice the historic design built in the 14th century and then rebuilt after being damaged in WWII.  This bridge provided an escape route for the local feudal ruler to leave the Castelvecchio in case of need.  The castle is a must see in Verona.

We passed by another bridge, Ponte Pietra which was built in 100 BC by Romans, destroyed in WWII and then restored in 1959.  We could see the earlier sections built of white stone combined with the newer red brick.  The different sections tying the centuries together.


Going through Verona there was not much wildlife although we did see several ducks which looked like USA mallard ducks.

A van met us at the take-out on the other side of the city, and it was a quick ride to our AirBnB.  We were dropped back in the city in time for lunch.

A canoe trip on the Adige is a great way to get an introduction to the city of Verona. The trip on the river helped us make our itinerary for the afternoon.  As we passed different places we said to ourselves, "Oh, we need to make sure we go there!"

Where are the PUT INS on Rivers in Kentucky? A turn around on the Kentucky River.

Where are the PUT INS on Kentucky Rivers?

A Turn Around on the Kentucky River

Kentucky is crisscrossed with miles and miles of rivers but canoeing on them can sometimes feel like you are solving a puzzle.  Where can you put in?  Where can you take out?  What is the security at each spot like?  Is the access close to the river?  Even after you think you have done enough research to spend some time on the river, even when you think you have identified the take out spot in a book, we find that the available literature and the river reality are quite different things.

Armed with the Kentucky Atlas (Topo maps of the entire state), a booklet called "Kentucky's Boating and Fishing access sites" put out by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, and the book "A Canoeing and Kayaking Guide to Kentucky"  by Bob Sehlinger and Johnny Molloy we thought we had all that we needed to know!

We wanted to canoe in pool 2 from Big Twin Creek bridge on Hwy 355 to General Butler State Park.  It took us a few turn arounds to find the put in on Twin Eagle Creek Bridge on Hwy 355.  It was hidden by overgrown brush and not real near the bridge itself.  Headed north on Hwy 355, it is on the left side of the road after the bridge over the creek.  There is paved put in with a small parking lot.  Parking and river access are good.

We then traveled to General Butler State Park to leave a car at the take out.  The "Canoeing and Kayaking Guide to Kentucky" has only a vague arrow pointing to a takeout place off of Hwy 227.  Kentucky's Boating and Fishing Access Sites listed General Butler State Park take out with directions saying "KY 227 to park".  When we asked several General Butler staff about where the access to the Kentucky River was located in the park, they had NO IDEA.  They had no idea that the park's boundaries even included the Kentucky River.  They could tell us about the Ohio River, but not the Kentucky River!  After searching for 1/2 hour, we decided to forget trying to find a takeout spot. We had small children in our group and it was getting late and so it would be difficult to canoe the 8 miles before dark. This experience doesn't say much for the staff or literature telling us about the natural resources in our own state.

We drove back to Big Twin Creek, where the rest of our canoeing group was waiting.  This access requires canoeing several hundred feet on the creek before reaching the Kentucky River. We chose to paddle upstream 2 miles and then float back to the put in.  That was our big turnaround. We were introducing our grandsons to the adventure of canoeing, but also introducing their parents to the realities of getting on a river in Kentucky. 

The Kentucky River in pool 2 is a wide slow river, with wooded banks of sycamore and silver maple, sometimes called water maple.  The banks were muddy and were sloping to steep.  Behind the banks were fields.  Even so, the deer were plentiful.  In that short 2 mile stretch we saw 7 deer, including 3 fawn. 

The water and life within the water was less encouraging.  It was muddy (generally expected since we are in the rainy season), but we couldn’t even begin to deal with the islands of floating trash.  We usually pick up the occasional piece of floating trash to help clean our rivers.  It is a good reminder that anything littered in the Kentucky River Basin will build into mounds of trash as the litter travels along the flowing waters.  Picking up the trash was a good way to introduce our grandsons to why it is important to clean up the river. This river did not give us a pleasant view.  We saw some alligator gar along the way but we saw no turtles and very few birds.  Makes us wonder.  We have been working to canoe as much of the Kentucky River that we can but this trip, compared to our other trips, left a lot to be desired.

Even so, it was good to be on the river and to enjoy the float.

Congaree National Park! A Swamp to Canoe Through.

Congaree National Park!

A Swamp to Canoe Through

South Carolina is not where you might expect to canoe through a Swamp!  Congaree National Park’s forest is one of the few “old growth” floodplain forests left.  Being from Florida we have spent plenty of time in low swampy waterways and we were looking forward to seeing what the Congaree in South Carolina had to offer.   We took the opportunity to go in March during our daughter's spring break even though we would only have a few days at the park and in the swamp.  The canoeing was good for both couples and we were not disappointed!

The Visitor Center opens at 9:00, but we wanted to get an early start on the river – so a great idea was to register for the backcountry permit the day before.  They have maps of the park and behind the counter they have a waterproof map of the “Congaree River Blue Trail”.  Actually these maps did not help us very much!  They did not have enough detail for us to ascertain where we were.  The recognizable landmarks were the bluffs at the Heritage Park, the railroad bridge, and the one large sandbar only a mile from the take out.  

We were surprised when the Park staff told us that there would be up to 10 portages that we would do on the 8 mile portion of Cedar Creek before getting to the Congaree River.  (The creek from Bannister Bridge to Cedar Creek landing was reported to have 30 portages! Glad we hadn't chosen that one!) Why so many portages?  Downed trees that haven’t been cleared away are the biggest obstacles in the creek.  We were glad that some of the “portages” could be passed under or around and we ended up portaging just 4 times.  Not too bad.  Our next challenge was staying within the Creek.  The creek meanders through the swamp often over the banks making it very difficult to be sure of which direction to turn.  There are some small trail markers attached to trees in the creek here and there and when we saw one we were reassured that we were going the right way. But there were a few times when we had to double track a short distance back. Another time we found ourselves canoeing against the flow of the water.  This does cause one to stop and ponder whether you are on the right track or not. We were glad the water level was where it was (about 3.5 feet according to the gauge) as we were sure to have gotten lost if more of the creek was out of its banks. 

How to Go Around, Under, or Over the Downed Trees!

We started on a Friday morning in mid-March with a temperature of 29 degrees.  At the visitor center,  the famous "mosquito meter”  read “mild”.  It had a rating of 2 on a scale of 6.  Weren't we lucky?   The cold air was keeping the mosquitoes at bay.

We loved the vegetation – the Bald Cypress and their knobby knees, Tupelo with their fluted trunk bottoms (as one little girl told us, the trees look like they are wearing skirts), dangling Spanish moss, resurrection fern, dwarf palmetto, American Beech!  

We loved the knobby knees of the Bald Cypress!

Can you feel the cold, quiet morning?

I love the reflection in the dark water.

The dark tannic water of the cypress swamp, we examine close up, as we meander slowly around the creek’s many bends.  The life of the swamp was heard in the call and pecking of the pileated woodpecker, and the consistent hooting of the barred owl.  An otter was also trying to hide from us as it swam smoothly in and around cypress tree and tupelo trunks.  We kept our eyes “out” for any other wildlife we might see, particularly looking for any alligators.  We are told they are here but it was probably still too cold for them to be out.  A couple of times we did see small groups of the feral pigs that have inundated the Park.  They would immediately scurry away when they saw we were nearby.  This probably adds to the difficulty of removing them from the Park.

Our daughter enjoying Cedar Creek

As we paddled closer to the Congaree River, plastic bottles were everywhere!  It was just too numerous.  It was hard for us to think that those who enjoy being outside would throw their trash into the river.  We came across one dead, cormorant skeleton  hanging in a tree wings spread – having been caught by a  hook left on a line to catch fish without the person present.

Any experienced canoer would cringe to think that they would only canoe 8 miles in 6 hours!  With the backtracking, portages, and slow life of the swamp – that is exactly how long it took us.  We were told that we would reach Congaree River using Mazyck’s Cut, but nothing is marked, so worries start clouding your mind and you think you are on the unmaintained part of the creek beyond Mazyck’s Cut.  If we were we would not be able to know.  But we finally did reach the wide Congaree River.  Yeah!  This part of the Congaree River is part of the community’s Blue Trail.  The river was actually flowing at a good clip and we were ready to find a good sand bar (of which we were told there were many) to camp.  After canoeing for over an hour, we realized that we were not going to find a sandbar – they were all mud.  So we found some higher ground and camped near a field of butterweed on the National Park side of the river.  Open fires are not allowed in the park.   Since the temperature had risen, the mosquitoes did find us that evening as the sun set.  We also woke to find that the river had risen a foot and there was water in a gut very near the tent.  We think that engineers are constantly managing the water level on the Congaree River.

Our campsite among the Butterweed.

We packed up our supplies, took photos of the butterweed, and recommenced our trip down the Congaree River.  With the quick flow of the river we estimated that we did over 3 miles an hour.  The temperature rose to a glorious 70 sunny degrees in March.  We saw evidence of corrals and corn feeders, which we figured were used to cull the feral hogs that have overrun South Carolina and specifically the National Park. We took a picnic where Bate’s Ferry Trail reaches the Congaree.  Next to it is a small creek spanned by a dismantled wooden bridge.  There was an open spaced grassy area that we used for our picnic. Unfortunately people have used the nearby area too often for their toilet, littering it with toilet paper.  As we picnicked there, we saw the only sandbar just across the river, occupied by 3 different families.  We were only a mile from the take out. The take out spot has 2 ramps, a dock, and was a busy place on a Saturday morning.  The last day we did 9 miles of the Congaree River in 2 ½ hours.  

Early Spring proved to be the perfect time of year to spend some time paddling in Congaree National Park.  We had some good wildlife viewing, had minimal mosquitoes, were challenged by some good paddling punctuated with portages around downed trees, and enjoyed our time going through the SWAMP!  You ready for an adventure?